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Religion at Appalachian - Part I |
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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
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Libyan woman joins university as Arabic professor, student
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a five-part series focusing on members of the Appalachian community who practice religion in college.
by MILLIE TOLLESON
News Reporter
Ghada Gherwash, a 25-year-old woman from Tripoli, Libya, has spent much of her life setting the record straight.
 Active Image | Gherwash
David Mulvaney | Chief Photographer
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She is not black, but she is from Africa.
She does not wear the traditional coverings, but she is Muslim.
Gherwash, a Fulbright Scholarship recipient, has been teaching Arabic and taking classes at Appalachian State University since August 2006.
Before this trip, Gherwash had never been to the United States.
“I was very scared before I came,” Gherwash said. “I lived all my life in a city, so it is very different here.”
To keep up with her Muslim traditions, Gherwash prays five times per day toward Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.
With classes and work at Appalachian, Gherwash said she sometimes misses her prayer times, but makes them up later in the day.
“It’s OK to miss if you have an excuse, like working, for example,” Gherwash said.
{mgmediabot}images/stories/2007/February/religion.swf|true(Click here for an interactive graphic on the religion series)|700|700{/mgmediabot}
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Gherwash said she usually prays at home due to the strict standards held to the location of prayer.
“You have to make sure the place is clean. You cannot pray where there is a dog,” Gherwash said.
Gherwash also practices Ramadan, although she said it is hard to be away from family during that time.
Ramadan is the 30-day fasting ritual that takes place depending on the
lunar calendar. Someone practicing Ramadan cannot eat from sunrise to
sunset each day.
“I have never spent Ramadan away from family,” Gherwash said. “[It’s a
time when] we cook together and visit family and friends.”
Although she was warned she might be subjected to prejudice in the
United States, Gherwash said she has felt very comfortable in Boone.
“They said ‘you have two problems. You are Arab and you are Muslim.’
But mostly people have just been confused [because my passport is] in
Arabic,” Gherwash said.
Gherwash said the severity of law in the Middle East varies by country.
“In Saudi Arabia, you are not allowed to go out without a headscarf. In
Libya, it is preferred, but it is a personal decision,” Gherwash said.
While the majority of the population in Libya does “cover,” Gherwash said she chose not to.
“The point of covering is not to seduce men, but I don’t see a point
for me to restrict my freedom to protect him,” she said. “It also
depends on how the family feels about it. My family doesn’t mind.”
However, Gherwash, the youngest of one sister and five brothers, said
convincing her family to support a move to the United States was
slightly more difficult.
Gherwash said it is considered “odd for a female to travel alone when
she is unmarried. My parents said it was fine, but I had some trouble
convincing my brothers,” she said. “One of my brothers stopped talking
to me, but he ended up driving me to the airport.”
Gherwash said one tradition the country, which is 100 percent Sunni Muslim, does uphold strictly is the absence of alcohol.
“There are no bars in Libya at all,” Gherwash said. “It is illegal to drink.”
After returning to Libya for about a month this summer, Gherwash is
excited to come back to Appalachian as an Arabic professor for the
2007-08 academic year.
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